Difference between revisions of "Task Force Serpent"
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[[File:Task Force Serpent - JumpShip Fleet.jpg|thumb|right|Task Force Serpent's JumpShip fleet with ''Invisible Truth'' leading it.]]
 
[[File:Task Force Serpent - JumpShip Fleet.jpg|thumb|right|Task Force Serpent's JumpShip fleet with ''Invisible Truth'' leading it.]]
  
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{{quote|Attention, Clan WarShips, I am Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion, commander of the Star League Task Force Serpent. Let this be my ''[[batchall]]''. I call upon you to prepare to defend your fleet and yourselves. We will be attacking you with all but one of our WarShips. I name as ''[[isorla]]'' any ship that is rendered unable to fight or maneuver, and claim its passengers and crew as [[bondsmen]]. What forces do you bid in your defense?
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On 15 December, after jumping into an unnamed star system, Task Force Serpent unexpectedly encountered a small [[Clan Ghost Bear]] fleet, consisting of one ''[[Congress]]''-class frigate, two ''[[Whirlwind]]''-class destroyers and an ''[[Invader]]''-class JumpShip. When Marshal Hasek-Davion hailed them and declared a [[Trial of Possession]] for the entire Clan fleet, [[Star Colonel]] [[Alonso Gilmour]] accepted his challenge. Engaging the enemy with naval assets and boarding teams, the task force defeated the Ghost Bears in what became known as the [[Battle of Trafalgar]].
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I am Star Colonel [[Alonso Gilmour]], of Clan Ghost Bear.  I do not recognize your claim to the Star League.  I accept your ''batchall''.  I will defend my fleet with every asset at my disposal.|[[Battle of Trafalgar]]}}
 
  
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On 15 December, Task Force Serpent stumbled unexpectedly across a small [[Clan Ghost Bear]] fleet, consisting of one ''[[Congress]]''-class frigate, two ''[[Whirlwind]]''-class destroyers and an ''[[Invader]]''-class JumpShip. When Marshal Hasek-Davion hailed them and declared a [[Trial of Possession]] for the entire Clan fleet, his challenge was accepted by the Ghost Bear commander.  Though the fighting was fierce, the Task Force was victorious in what became known as the [[Battle of Trafalgar]].
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The task force suffered modest losses. One assault DropShip had been destroyed, the ''Starlight'' had lost some of her weapons, and many ships had taken armor damage. Casualties totaled twenty-six dead, thirty-two wounded, and four missing. The Ghost Bear starships were all captured or destroyed. One of the destroyers, the ''[[Fire Fang]]'', was put into service as the eighth WarShip of the task force. The task force also captured an undamaged Clan ''[[Broadsword]]''-class DropShip, the ''Ice Dart'' (renamed the ''[[Stiletto_(Individual_Broadsword-class_DropShip)|Stiletto]]''), a couple of damaged ''[[Union-C]]''-class DropShips, a dozen [[OmniFighters]], a [[Star]] of [[OmniMechs]], and several tons of consumable supplies.<ref name=TH27>''The Hunters'', ch. 27</ref>
  
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With the Clan flotilla defeated, the Task Force was faced with several pressing issues in the aftermath of the engagement. First was the repair of their own ships. While luckily most of their ships had not taken structural damage, they had lost one assault dropship, the ''Starlight'' had lost some of her weapons, and many ships had taken armor damage that would compromise their protection in the event of another engagement. In exchange however, they had captured or destroyed all the Clan starships. Although the damage done in the process rendered most of them crippled beyond any possible field repair, one of the destroyers, the ''[[Fire Fang]]'', was able to be both repaired and put into service as the eighth warship of the fleet. They also captured an undamaged Clan ''[[Broadsword]]''-class dropship, the ''[[Ice Dart]]'' (renamed the ''Stiletto''), a couple of damaged ''[[Union-C]]''-class DropShips, a dozen [[OmniFighters]] and a [[Star]] of [[OmniMechs]] which were divided up among the units.
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Task Force Serpent also took possession of roughly three hundred bondsmen, mostly lower-caste members who were being relocated to the Inner Sphere. Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion directed that any Clansmen who willingly gave their bond oath would be accepted into the task force, while the rest would be marooned on a habitable world.<ref name=TH27/> On 30 December, the task force located[[Lee Shore|a suitable planet]] and deposited on it the prisoners who had not joined the task force, leaving them with some supplies and the promise that, if the task force completed its mission, someone would come back for them.<ref name=TH29>''The Hunters'', ch. 29</ref>
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The biggest headache for Task Force Serpent however was that the Clan flotilla had been engaged in Clan Ghost Bear's relocation of its civilian population to the Inner Sphere and as such not only carried its normal crew but over a thousand civilians. Without the resources to take them along and more than one of the mission's senior officers either uneasy or downright hostile to the idea of accepting Clan bondsmen as allies, Morgan quickly stepped in to lay down the law: any Clansmen who willingly gave their bond oath would be accepted by the task force - even if he had to assign every one of them as a member of his personal staff. The others who did not would be taken with the fleet until such time as they could find a habitable world they could be left behind on. Although distrust was great towards many of these so-called 'Clan Serpent' bondsmen, tensions were eased somewhat when a Clan technician, Lennox, at great personal risk saved the life of an Inner Sphere technician during a zero-G salvage operations. He was rewarded by Morgan Hasek-Davion with his freedom and reassigned to his personal staff. The other bondsmen considered most trustworthy also helped to form a skeleton crew for the ''Fire Fang''.<ref name=TH28>''The Hunters'', ch. 28</ref>
 
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The repair and salvage operations took several days, with some unit commanders very uneasy about spending so long at a system clearly used by at least some Clans. Nonetheless the operations were completed successfully and after doing their best to remove any evidence of the battle, the task force jumped out on 25 December. Just as it left the system however one of the sensor technicians aboard the ''Invisible Truth'' detected an abnormal jump signature, possibly indicating an inbound starship, which was noted, but not investigated - as to do so would require returning to the system.  On 30 December, the task force had identified a suitable world and marooned on it those Ghost Bears who had not taken the bond-oath, leaving them with some supplies and the promise that someone would come back for them.<ref name=TH28/>
 
  
 
==Assassination of Morgan Hasek-Davion==
 
==Assassination of Morgan Hasek-Davion==

Revision as of 09:18, 31 July 2020

Template:InfoBoxStateUnit Task Force Serpent was a multinational task force created by the Second Star League Defense Force to execute a secret military operation conceived and led by Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion: Travel to the Clan Smoke Jaguar homeworld of Huntress, occupy it, and completely destroy the war-making capability of the Clan. The mission complemented Operation BULLDOG, whose objective was to expel the Smoke Jaguars from every world they occupied in the Inner Sphere.

After a long journey through the Deep Periphery to the Clan Homeworlds, Task Force Serpent ultimately completed its mission with the assistance of elements from Operation BULLDOG, which had succeeded ahead of schedule. Clan Smoke Jaguar was effectively wiped out, but at heavy cost to the task force. Marshal Hasek-Davion, the task force commander, was assassinated en route; his successor, General Ariana Winston, was killed in action; and the task force suffered an eighty percent casualty rate.

Task Force Commission

On 14 November 3058, during a military planning session at the First Whitting Conference for the first wave of Operation BULLDOG, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht presented new intelligence that had been provided by the Smoke Jaguar defector, Trent. The information included the Exodus Road and the location of Huntress, the Smoke Jaguar homeworld. Morgan Hasek-Davion proposed and volunteered to lead a strike at Huntress designed to raze it, shocking the Clan and wiping out all traces of the warrior caste.[1] The First Council approved the plan, with Hasek-Davion as the Task Force Commander. [2]

In January 3059, the units assigned to Task Force Serpent began to assemble on Fort Defiance, a barren planet deep in the Crucis March of the Federated Commonwealth, which had mostly been used for military training maneuvers. [3] Serpent's ground forces consisted of the Eridani Light Horse, the First Kathil Uhlans, the Northwind Highlanders, the ComGuard Second Division, the Eleventh Lyran Guards, the Second Sword of Light, the Second St. Ives Lancers, the Fourth Drakøns, the Knights of the Inner Sphere, and Kingston's Legionnaires, a regiment of questionable honor.[4] For the next several months the ground units conducted training and integration exercises, fighting alongside one another, with ComStar's Invader Galaxy taking an OpFor role. DEST and MI6 teams, assigned to the task force for special operations, trained for spacecraft boarding actions. [5]

Task Force Serpent launched on 1 May 3059, following a route through Weldon, Vicente, Tsamma and Palmyra on its way through the Federated Commonwealth.[6] On 29 June the task force jumped from Pajarito into the Outworlds Alliance.[7] On 19 July, after recharging jump drives at Alpheratz, Task Force Serpent entered the Deep Periphery and began its journey along the Exodus Road to Huntress.[8]

Battle of Sweetwater Lake

On 16 November, Task Force Serpent stopped at a habitable planet in the Meribah system to replenish the fleet's supply of fresh water. Two specially-modified Mule-class DropShips were dispatched to the surface, escorted by the 21st Striker Regiment's 5th Striker Battalion. As the DropShips pumped water from a lake, which the crews dubbed "Sweetwater", the Eridani unit was attacked by a mixed force of Inner Sphere BattleMechs and Clan OmniMechs, who were swiftly defeated. [9]

The enemy turned out to be a group of pirates using the planet for a base of operations. With the pirates' main force absent on a raid, Marshal Hasek-Davion ordered that the pirate base be wiped out in order to maintain the secrecy of the task force. The next day, a combined Eridani-MI6 strike team destroyed the pirate base and released the slaves found there. Four pirate leaders were court-martialed for piracy and murder and were summariliy executed. The rest of the pirates were convicted of lesser crimes and sentenced to be marooned on a uninhabited planet. [10]

Battle of Trafalgar

Main article: Battle of Trafalgar
Task Force Serpent's JumpShip fleet with Invisible Truth leading it.

On 15 December, after jumping into an unnamed star system, Task Force Serpent unexpectedly encountered a small Clan Ghost Bear fleet, consisting of one Congress-class frigate, two Whirlwind-class destroyers and an Invader-class JumpShip. When Marshal Hasek-Davion hailed them and declared a Trial of Possession for the entire Clan fleet, Star Colonel Alonso Gilmour accepted his challenge. Engaging the enemy with naval assets and boarding teams, the task force defeated the Ghost Bears in what became known as the Battle of Trafalgar.

The task force suffered modest losses. One assault DropShip had been destroyed, the Starlight had lost some of her weapons, and many ships had taken armor damage. Casualties totaled twenty-six dead, thirty-two wounded, and four missing. The Ghost Bear starships were all captured or destroyed. One of the destroyers, the Fire Fang, was put into service as the eighth WarShip of the task force. The task force also captured an undamaged Clan Broadsword-class DropShip, the Ice Dart (renamed the Stiletto), a couple of damaged Union-C-class DropShips, a dozen OmniFighters, a Star of OmniMechs, and several tons of consumable supplies.[11]

Task Force Serpent also took possession of roughly three hundred bondsmen, mostly lower-caste members who were being relocated to the Inner Sphere. Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion directed that any Clansmen who willingly gave their bond oath would be accepted into the task force, while the rest would be marooned on a habitable world.[11] On 30 December, the task force locateda suitable planet and deposited on it the prisoners who had not joined the task force, leaving them with some supplies and the promise that, if the task force completed its mission, someone would come back for them.[12]

Assassination of Morgan Hasek-Davion

“ He was the last of the old order of things. We'll never see his like again. ”
  — General Ariana Winston

During the night of 2 January 3060, Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion died in his quarters aboard the Invisible Truth. His death was initially attributed to heart failure, but subsequent forensic investigations determined that he was deliberately poisoned with a fast-acting toxin introduced into his scotch whiskey. [13][14]

On 10 January, General Winston, Task Force Serpent's second-in-command, formally assumed command and announced that Hasek-Davion's death was under investigation. With the fleet less than 200 light-years from Huntress, she reviewed the orders and reports he had left for her in the event of his death. One of these revealed that in addition to units officially assigned to the Task Force, Coordinator Theodore Kurita had "gifted" a team of four Nekakami.[15]

As the investigation progressed, suspicion fell on five ComStar crew members who had no records of their existence before they joined ComStar.[16] On 23 January the two suspects who had originally been assigned to Invisible Truth were summoned for interrogation. The first suspect, Julia Davis, seemed to be hiding something, but her interrogator, Sho-sa Michael Ryan, concluded that she was probably not involved in the assassination. She was relieved of duty and confined to quarters.[17]

Two ComStar marines were escorting the second suspect, Lucas Penrose, to his interrogation, when he killed them both with a hidden hold-out pistol, stole their weapons, and barricaded himself in a recreation room on Deck Four. Penrose claimed that he had planted a bomb in the ship's number three magazine, and threatened to destroy the ship unless General Winston met his demands. As General Winston conversed with Penrose, she perceived that the hand he was keeping out of sight, supposedly holding a detonator, was empty. With this knowledge she jumped Penrose, wrestling him for his gun. Penrose was hit in the back with a poisoned shuriken, enabling Winston to seize his gun and shoot him in the chest.[17] The poison and the gunshot wound were both fatal.[18]

Ordnance crews and DEST EOD experts could find no evidence of explosives in the number three magazine or anywhere else on the ship, confirming that Penrose had been bluffing.[19] After returning to her office, General Winston received a voice-only call from one of the nekakami agents, who asserted that Penrose had acted alone. According to him, "Lucas Penrose" was a Loki agent who had been an assassin, first for the Lyran Commonwealth and later for the Lyran Alliance. The nekakami asked that "Julia Davis" be released from custody, and abruptly ended the call.[18]

Voice of Kerensky

Main article: Voice of Kerensky

At the conclusion of Hasek-Davion's funeral on 11 January, the ships of Task Force Serpent received a broadband transmission sent by General Aleksandr Kerensky. In his brief message, he explained why he had taken the original Star League Defense Force from the Inner Sphere and expressed his hope that their descendants would one day return to serve as the Star League's protectors. Because the message was sent by microwave, it was traveling at light-speed, and wouldn't reach the Inner Sphere for hundreds of years more. The Task Force would have missed the message completely if it hadn't been delayed by Hasek-Davion's death.[20]

Battle of Huntress

Main article: Battle of Huntress


Aftermath

From a force originally equal to ten regiments, Task Force Serpent had been reduced to less than two. Each unit was granted salvage rights to equipment sufficient to restore it to 110% of its original strength, with the rest pooled and sold to form a fund for survivors and families of the deceased. Colonel Paul Masters was placed in command of salvage and recovery operations on Huntress, while Victor Steiner-Davion led an expedition to Strana Mechty.[21] General Redburn and a lance of the Kathil Uhlans accompanied him and fought alongside him in the Great Refusal, defeating Lincoln Osis and the last of the Smoke Jaguars.[22][23]

After its return to the Inner Sphere, Task Force Serpent was dissolved. All remaining WarShips and the Eridani Light Horse were integrated into the Second Star League Defense Force.[24] The 1st Kathil Uhlans were disbanded and most surviving members were assigned to the newly formed 1st Royal BattleMech Regiment.[25] While the Northwind Highlanders returned to their mercenary life, the Royal Black Watch joined the Star League Defense Force as well, returning to its place as bodyguards of the First Lord.[26] The 4th Drakøns were disbanded and the survivors spread among the rest of the KungsArmé.[27]

Participating Units

Task Force Serpent was one of the largest military operations conducted by the Inner Sphere since the fall of the original Star League. In total, it consisted of 55,000 personnel; over a thousand BattleMechs, Aerospace Fighters and Combat Vehicles; ninety-eight DropShips; and twenty-seven JumpShips and WarShips.[6][28]

Ground units

Special operations forces

Fleet

References

  1. ↑ Grave Covenant, ch. 17
  2. ↑ Grave Covenant, ch. 18
  3. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 7
  4. ↑ Twilight of the Clans, p. 8-9, "Task Force Serpent"
  5. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 9
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Hunters, ch. 14
  7. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 16
  8. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 17
  9. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 18-19
  10. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 20-21
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Hunters, ch. 27
  12. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 29
  13. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 30-31
  14. ↑ Sword and Fire, ch. 1-2
  15. ↑ Sword and Fire, ch. 3
  16. ↑ Sword and Fire, ch. 7
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Sword and Fire, ch. 8
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Sword and Fire, ch. 10
  19. ↑ Sword and Fire, ch. 9
  20. ↑ Sword and Fire, ch. 4-5
  21. ↑ Prince of Havoc, ch. 2
  22. ↑ Prince of Havoc, ch. 10
  23. ↑ Prince of Havoc, ch. 14
  24. ↑ Field Manual: ComStar, p. 89
  25. ↑ Field Manual: ComStar, p. 101
  26. ↑ Field Manual: ComStar, p. 98
  27. ↑ Field Manual: ComStar, p. 98
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 28.6 28.7 Twilight of the Clans, p. 8, "Task Force Serpent Composition"
  29. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 28
  30. ↑ The Hunters, ch. 12

Bibliography

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